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When I started my blog 2 1/2 years ago, I did it because I wanted to encourage other women who were in the same situation that I had been in.  I was home all day long with babies, doing household work, and not getting much encouragement in my own life.  Some days were pretty hectic, some were dismal, and others I can’t even remember.  It was hard to find time to read my Bible, paying attention to a sermon was difficult, and attending a church fellowship meeting was impossible.  I had many babies and they all demanded Mom’s attention.

Looking back, life could have went smoother, if I would have had more encouragement and teaching.  I had many things from my past that I was allowing myself to hold onto and that manifested itself in my life.  When things got dark, I just let that dark magnify and I would think on all of the “bad” in my life.  It was not a good place to be.  The bible says in Proverbs 27:17 that “iron sharpens iron and so a man encourages or sharpens his friend.”

Our lives are not meant to be downtrodden and full of sadness.  God desires so much more for us.  The problem is that we are not willing to take it.  We question and doubt all that He has.  We think that because it happens it must be the will of God.  I know that I did.  But what if what happens is because of our own choices and decisions?  What happens when we don’t diligently seek out the Lord’s will?  Then we blame God, we question Him, we wonder why, we doubt, we get angry, we settle, and finally we  accept.

I’m here to share that that is NOT the way that we have to live.  God did not intend for us to live that way.  Why are we doing that?  Out of not knowing, not trying and not wanting more out of life.

If I could tell you that you don’t have to live with depression, anxiety, doubt, and fear would you believe me?  Why would we want to live with any of these things?  What makes a person NOT want to change?  Why have we come to accept that this is the “will of God?”  It is not!!!

When I used to have “bad days” my husband would ask me what is wrong.  My response was that I felt like a “cloud of doom” was encircling over my life and I did not know how to get out of it.  I can look back now and know that it was depression from all of my past hurts, fears, and anxieties.  At the time, I just could not decipher what it was.  When we go through things it is much harder to see them ourselves.  How we react to things, our decisions, our personalities are all based on the way that we were brought up or the way that we deal with things in life.  Most are based on hurts and failures.  That is why we have a lot of people that are offended.  Many who can’t trust fully.  Many who just accept that this is their lot in life.

My heart is to help women. Women who are in bondage to past sins.  Women who think they don’t have a voice due to submission to their husbands.  Women dealing with hurt and pain from things that they can not let go of in life.  Women who think that God might have forgotten them.

“When the storm clouds roll in,” was written out of a love and desire to see women changed and set free from all that Satan has led us to believe is “the will of God.”

Over the next few weeks we will walk through the areas that are causing the storm clouds to start brewing in our lives.  These areas include:

• unforgiveness
• offenses
• control
• devaluing ourselves

Think this is not for you?  If you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions then this book is a MUST for you:

• Do you cringe when someone speaks positively about someone who has hurt you in your past?
• When someone brags about someone whom you know is living a lie do you feel the need to say something?
• When your husbands calls in the middle of your hectic day and asks you to do something, do you get offended?
• When your friends don’t include you on an outing, are you offended?
• When your friend speaks on how much weight she has lost, and you haven’t do you get offended?
• Do you feel the need to control what your husband does every minute he gets home from work?
• Do you not allow your husband to go off and have some “man time” because it isn’t fair that he goes over you?
• Do you have to pick and choose what you do as a family as far as outings, movie watching, and meals because your husband doesn’t know what is best?
• Do you have all the say where the finances have to go because you are the saver and he is the spender?
• Do you ever lay in bed at night and question if you chose the right man to marry?
• Do you ever covet when your friend gets a new vehicle or a newer house and your stuck with the same old broken down things?
• Do you complain to your husband that you need more money because he isn’t making enough?
• Can you look at yourself and be truly happy where you are at in life?
• Do you constantly have a prayer request or a need for yourself personally?
• Do you feel the need to share all your personal problems at the ladies prayer group so that you can get some sympathy from others?
• Do you like to share how badly your husband treats you so that others will comfort you?
• Do you limit food or purge food because it makes you feel better?
• Do you do things in secret that you would be ashamed if others knew what you were doing?
• Imagine if someone came into your home and observed your life for a day or even a a week without you knowing and wrote it all out for the world to see, does that make you nervous?

If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions then keep reading.  Stay on this journey with us as we find the contentment in the midst of the storm.

Be blessed, Amy

**Don’t want to wait for this series each week?  Then buy my book in it’s entirety for yourself or for your group study.  You can buy it here and get it immediately as a download or you can click here and buy it from Amazon.  If you are looking to buy it in bulk for group study, contact me for special pricing.

plainandnotsoplain@gmail.com

Desire more out of life!!!!

part 2–as a mom I’m dying a little each day

 

I normally am a person of my word.  I don’t like to say I am going to do something and then not do it.  You see, I  promised, new posts and I was all excited to start back up on a regular schedule and then…….I didn’t.  Seems this summer was filled with much spending our days at the lake and enjoying getting to know new people and expanding our territory.

It has almost been a whole year since we have made the move 700 miles away to North Carolina and life is good and moving.  It has been filled with lots of new adventures, and many new friendships, and lots of God showing His greatness.

Instead of blogging, this is how I spent my days……………..

Having picnics at the lake.  Just enjoying the children, simple things like bubbles.

We did more swimming then we have in our life!  Almost everyday was spent at the Lake.  Could it be the “real feel” temperature of 100 degrees!!!!  Yes!

It was great to just relax, enjoy the sand, and swim with the children.  I remember the days of never being able to go outside because of my little ones being so young and there were too many of them:)  But now we can do a beach day like this and I am very comfortable that they are all going to be safe.  Amazing how life does change and get better, even when the current situation doesn’t seem to show that.

This was the typical day……………..making sandcastles.

One of the things that I miss is grass!  Yes, grass.  We live on a mountain, which is rock, so it is more of like weedy grass.  Not that soft feeling of your typical grass:) Weird, right?  This Lake Jocassee, in South Carolina has a whole lot of mostly flat grass.  Our favorite spot is to sit on it and enjoy our dinner, looking out over the lake.  You can guess, that I sit directly on the grass and eat my dinner.  I told my husband, when we buy our mountain property, all I ask is for a small patch of grass:)  Not sure that would take without dumping a bunch of dirt first, hmmmmm:)

This is the beauty we get to enjoy everyday.  Pictures don’t do it justice.  I have been taking many pictures of the mountain ridge and it never looks as beautiful as in person.   Every time I drive into town, I wonder if I will ever grow tired of looking at those mountains?

Here my husband and I had a “date day.”  We hiked it up to Chimney Rock in North Carolina and got to enjoy this gorgeous view. 

We have also been actively part of the Hendersonville Church of God.  Here my little ones are playing in the nursery that we have revamped.  God provided funds for us to “spruce up” the room to make it more welcoming.  A fresh coat of paint, new carpet, and a bunch of new toys makes for a pretty good nursery. 

Basically that is where I have been.  Just enjoying and expanding my life in my “new land.”

But what if I viewed this move as something that I did NOT want to do?  What if when my husband approached me about moving, I immediately told him “no” and made it “more difficult” for him to pursue something for our family?  What if I sat home and cried and complained about all the friends I missed and how the children were missing out on things?  How would life be?

Well I can tell you how it would be……………………….

It would be a life filled with regret, disappointment, sadness, loneliness, and overall disrespect for my husband.  Roots of bitterness would begin to grow in my heart towards him.  I wouldn’t view what we had as something good.   I would start to put up walls and pull away from the bond that we had.   I would miss out on the opportunities that God had laid before me and I wouldn’t be experience that fullness of joy that He gives to us.  It would be a life that I just got by on.  I would show my children how to treat their future spouses with disrespect.  I would show them how to have lack of faith in God.  Doesn’t sound like a good role model for my children to emulate their lives after does it?

I hate to admit it,  but at one time, this is what I did do whenever my husband gave any major changes to our life.  I sat home and mulled over my life situation and hated the place I was in.  But did you know that none of that ever hurt anyone but me. I was the one going through the struggles, I was the one that hurt inside.  I was the one that had bitterness growing inside and thought how “bad I had it.”  I didn’t reach out, I just stayed within my little circle of life and that was it.

I missed out…………………….

What does it mean to have “faith?”

Vine’s Expository Dictionary defines faith as:
primarily, firm persuasion,” a conviction based upon hearing, is used in the NT always of “faith in God or Christ, or things spiritual.”
It is used to trust, an assurance, a pledge, a firm conviction, a personal surrender.

Our entire lives should be a life of faith.  To have faith is to put our trust into something completely unknown and know that it is going to work out for our good.  When I put this move to North Carolina completely into God’s hands, He faithfully made everything work out.  There was not a moment of stress in the entire move. To the natural man, having to move your entire family 700 miles away within 2 1/2 weeks sounds crazy.  But when I sought the Lord in every decision, it moved effortlessly.  We sold things, we packed things, we found a house, and we financially made the move with plenty of money.  We got here and there was a lull of silence.  There were months that we didn’t do much because we didn’t know many people.  I kept  reminding my children that in those quiet moments, is when God can speak to us the best.  We are to use those times to prepare for what He has next.

During the past year, I was able to write three books that the Lord gave me.  That would have never happened, if I would have sat around hating my husbands decision to move here.  From those books, I have been able to profit financially and it provides for some needs for our family.

I decided that since the Lord made everything work out to move here, then there must be a great reason.  He puts in my spirit an anticipation and an excitement for things to come.  I have never sought Him more in my life on a daily basis as I do now.  It makes me realize that there is so much more out there, if we are willing to do what God asks of us.  I could just sit and be in my own life, busy being a Mom.  I could excuse away that I don’t have time to reach out.  But I don’t want that anymore.  I want to do! I want to stretch myself, I want to expand my circle of influence to what God has for me.  I want to experience a life filled with abundance and overflowing happiness.

All that begins with a personal decision to have faith and to view our life as half full instead of half empty.

Don’t look around and see what you don’t have in life.  Start looking at what you can do with what you have.  Look at the people that God has placed in your life and ask what you can do for them. You never know the friendships that will come from the people that you haven’t approached.

Expand yourself, enlarge your sphere of people.  What is the worst thing that can happen?  You can be rejected?  That is okay, just keep moving.  Don’t stop because of one thing, move forward with an expectancy of things to come.  Ask the Lord what you can do.  Some of the things that the Lord has told me to do, I had to question in my brain.  But then I realized that He knows more than I do, so I need to listen to that voice.  After being obedient, I smile because God did something I would have never imagined.  That is one of my favorite verses in the bible:

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

Ephesians 3:20

God’s Word is so true, He can do more than we could ever think but it is our job to have faith in what He says.

I encourage you today, to put your troubles into the Lord’s hands.  If you struggle with something, give to the Lord and don’t dwell on it any longer.  Don’t even think about it for a moment more, let God take care of it.  He knows so much more than we do and can fix things when we let go.

Have a blessed day!